Beyond the Brimstone
In this week’s Parshah, Parshas Vayera, Hashem destroys the wicked city Sodom; but before doing so, He wanted to tell Abraham.
“Can I really conceal from Abraham what I'm about to do [to Sodom]? But he is going to be a great and mighty nation, and all the gentiles will be blessed through him. For I know that he will command his children and leave a legacy following in the way of Hashem, doing justice and righteousness.” (cf. Breishis 18:17-19)
The reason that G-d tells Abraham about His plans to destroy Sodom, is because Abraham will leave a legacy of righteousness. What is the connection? To address this question, Rashi brings a medrash that suggests that there is no connection at all. The Torah merely records G-d's confidence in Abraham at this point, as a fulfillment of the concept of "Zecher Tzadik Livracha (Mishlei 10:7)", which, in this context means that if one mentions a tzadik by name, one should go ahead and mention his other good points.
[Interestingly, Rashi told us about a complementary concept in last week’s parsha. Lot moved to Sodom because of the wealth of the community (Breishis 13:10). Right afterward, (Breishis 13:13), the Torah points out- seemingly out of context- that Sodom was an evil place. Rashi says “Shem Reshaim Yirkav (Mishlei 10:7)”- let the name of the evildoers rot. Once we mention the evil city of Sodom, we also point out its negative aspects.]
In contrast to Rashi, the Malbim has a different understanding. He suggests that G-d tells Abraham about the impending destruction because Abraham will instruct his progeny in G-d's ways, and teach his children the lesson of Sodom. Rabbi Eliezer Breitowitz (Rosh Yeshiva in Toronto) explained further that Abraham is a teacher; good teachers look at everything and ponder its meaning. Good teachers are able to find lessons and mussar in all aspects of life, and they file the kernels away in order to share with others later. When listening to the news, or living a personal experience, a good teacher has an astute eye to catch the take-home message. He or she is able to look at the situation and precisely express what is moral and immoral about it, and why.
With this understanding, we have better insight into the passuk above. Hashem testifies that Abraham will leave a legacy of tzedaka umishpat, justice and righteousness - the key failings of Sodom's society. Abraham's progeny will successfully learn from Sodom's mistakes, and they will establish communities of "justice and righteousness", finding grace in G-d's eyes rather than invoking His anger.
May we all merit to have great teachers like Abraham - and may we all aspire to be that kind of teacher ourselves. May we absorb the lessons in the parsha as well as the current lessons that G-d sends us, may we interpret them correctly, and share them effectively with others.